Systems and methods for exchanging health care credits

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for exchanging health care credits are described. In various embodiments, health care credits are freely transferable units of value representing good health, an improvement in health, or maintenance of health by an individual. The health care credits may be bought, sold, exchanged for goods and services, gifted or otherwise freely conveyed from one owner to another. Also disclosed are exchanges and markets for buying, selling, and trading health care credits, as well as derivative securities. The derivative securities or products are based on either the flow of health care credits through the system, or on health care information, which may have been generated to implement health care credit awards.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims benefit of, priorapplication Ser. No. 14/081,115 filed on Nov. 15, 2013 and allowed,which is a continuation of prior application Ser. No. 13/273,456 filedon Oct. 14, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,600,774, both of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety. This application is relatedto the following commonly-assigned, co-pending U.S. patent applications:application Ser. No. 13/273,430, filed Oct. 14, 2011, and entitled“SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROCESSING THE REDEMPTION OF HEALTH CARECREDITS” by the same inventors (Docket No. 0139.0002-00); applicationSer. No. 13/273,366, filed Oct. 14, 2011 and entitled “SYSTEMS ANDMETHODS FOR PROVIDING HEALTH CARE CREDITS TO SUBSCRIBERS” by the sameinventors (Docket No. 0139.0001-00); and application Ser. No. 13/486,427filed Jun. 1, 2012, (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,504,389), and entitled “SYSTEMSAND METHODS FOR HEALTH CARE CREDIT TRANSACTIONS” by the same inventors,all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

FIELD

This invention generally relates to systems and methods for health careoperations. More particularly, this invention relates to platforms andtechniques for monetizing, transferring, and exchanging creditsrepresenting health care related actions and outcomes.

BACKGROUND

Health insurance is insurance that pays for all, or a portion, of theexpenses incurred by an individual for health-related care, such asmedical care, medications, etc. Generally, a health insurance company orgovernment entity that provides health insurance (in either casereferred to as a health insurer) provides health care benefits to anindividual as specified in an insurance policy or insurance plan, inexchange for periodic payments or premiums. By modeling the risk ofhealth care expenses for a group of people that the insured belongs to(e.g., Caucasian males aged 40-50), the insurer can calculate a premiumthat provides enough assets to pay for the health care benefitsspecified in the insurance plan, should the need arise. Health insurancedoes not generally reward behavior that maintains or improves health,but rather, penalizes people with deteriorating health or pre-existingconditions by raising premiums or excluding coverage.

Because health care is expensive, health care insurance is alsoexpensive. As a consequence there are many disenfranchised people who donot have health care insurance, do not have enough health careinsurance, or do not have the correct health care insurance, becausethey cannot afford it. Moreover, because they cannot afford health care,the uninsured and underinsured often avoid seeking health care until orunless they develop acute symptoms or chronic illnesses. Often, medicalproblems that would have been easily and inexpensively solved in theearly stages have become complex and expensive to solve by the time theuninsured and underinsured seek care. Even thought non-emergency careproviders often will not treat the uninsured and underinsured becausethey cannot pay, uninsured and underinsured patients nonetheless obtainexpensive health care treatments in emergency rooms that legally cannotdeny them care. The cost of caring for the uninsured and underinsured ispassed on in higher prices to insurance companies and insured patients.

A fairly new development in health care is the practice ofevidence-based medicine or evidence-based health care. Evidence-basedhealth care seeks to provide treatment, services, and medications for ahealth problem based on the best currently available evidence regardingtreatment of the health problem. The evidence may be obtained fromsources that range from highly scientific, published clinical trials toconventional wisdom. Evidence-based health care is most effective inthose areas of medical practice that have been frequent subjects ofscientific studies, usually from clinical trials; i.e., those areas thathave accumulated the most evidence that is accessible to medicalpractitioners.

By systematically and scientifically identifying effective, ineffective,and harmful treatments, evidence-based health care may reduce healthcare costs by reducing expenditures on ineffective and harmfultreatments.

There are several novel improvements that may be made to conventionalhealth care payment systems and health insurance, as well asimprovements to evidence-based health care.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods consistent with the present disclosure create andutilize health care credits. Health care credits may be issued toindividuals by a health insurer, including a governmental healthinsurer, or other entity, and the individual may store and manage theirhealth care credits using a specialized account. The individual maytransfer health care credits from their account to other accounts forvarious reasons. In addition, the individual may sell the health carecredits for cash, including selling them on a specialized exchange ormarketplace. Investment vehicles that are based on the movement ofhealth care credits, or based on health care information (which may insome embodiments be gathered incidental to health care creditmanagement) may be created and traded, including derivative investmentvehicles.

Various embodiments include systems, computerized methods, andcomputer-readable storage media for managing health care credits, whichperform operations and actions that may include receiving health carecredits, wherein the health care credits represent good health, orimprovement in health, or maintenance of health; storing the health carecredits in an account controlled by an entity, for example anindividual; receiving an instruction from the entity; and deducting,using the computing system, health care credits from the accountaccording to the instruction.

Other embodiments include systems, computerized methods, andcomputer-readable storage media for exchanging health care credits,which perform operations and actions that may include receiving anoffer, from an entity, to exchange health care credits; identifying areciprocal offer that matches the offer to exchange the health carecredits; exchanging the health care credits for proceeds according tothe offer and the reciprocal offer; and providing the proceeds to theentity. In some such embodiments, the health care credits represent goodhealth, or improvement in health, or maintenance of health.

Yet other embodiments include systems, computerized methods, andcomputer-readable storage media for administering a health carederivative, which perform operations and actions that may includecreating the health care derivative, wherein the health care derivativehas a value that depends upon fulfilling a condition related to healthcare; collecting data related to health care and the condition;determining, from the data, whether the condition has been fulfilled;and adjusting the value of the health care derivative according towhether the condition has been fulfilled.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments and implementationsof the present disclosure and together with the description, serve toexplain the embodiments and implementations. Wherever convenient, thesame reference numbers may be used to refer to the same or likefeatures.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of exemplary health care credit accounts,consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for managing a health carecredit account, consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for exchanging healthcare credits, consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for exchanging health carecredits, consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system for managingdata and providing derivative securities related to health careinformation, consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for managing a derivativesecurity related to health care credits, consistent with the principlesof the invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an exemplary system for transferringand exchanging health care credits, consistent with the principles ofthe invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for managing a derivativesecurity related to the transfer of health care credits, consistent withthe principles of the invention; and

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computing systemsuitable for implementing embodiments consistent with the principles ofthe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

Various embodiments consistent with the present disclosure create andutilize Health Care Credits (HCCs). Generally, a “health care credit,”as used herein, can refer to an award, reward, or other type of creditprovided to an individual that rewards the individual for good healthand/or healthy behaviors, as well as incentivizes the individual tomaintain and/or improve their health level. In various embodiments,health care credits have intrinsic value because they can be used andaccepted as a payment for health care services received by theindividual, thus monetizing the health care credits or using the creditsas a sort of currency. Further, the health care credits can be freelytransferrable, sellable, conveyable, and/or the like, to otherindividuals, subscribers, and/or entities and exchanged for goods andservices. Still further, the health care credits can be securitized.Moreover, the health care credits can be bought, sold, and exchanged ina market-type environment comprising authorized agents, brokers,channels, exchanges and/or other entities or components.

Various implementations of HCCs proved several advantageous improvementsto current health care systems. For example, awarding HCCs toindividuals (e.g., patients) and/or health care providers (e.g.,physicians) provides a direct incentive to create, maintain or improvehealth for these participants in the health care system.

For example, a patient may be awarded HCCs for achieving an improvedhealth level outcome, such as a reduced cholesterol level or body massindex (BMI). For another example, an insured individual may be providedwith HCCs for engaging in health-benefiting behaviors, includingcommercial behaviors, such as joining a health club or gym, purchasingparticular food items or health-benefiting products, shopping atparticular establishments, such as health food stores or organicrestaurants, etc. In the same vein, eligibility for an award of HCCs maybe used to promote health-benefiting products and services.

In addition to patients, a physician may earn HCCs for formulating theregimen that the patient successfully followed to produce the improvedhealth level outcome, (e.g., increased exercise and a prescription for acholesterol-reducing medication).

HCCs may also incentivize behaviors in the preventative health area,such as awarding HCCs to patients who engage in healthy behaviors (e.g.,exercise, regularly take medication, etc.), even if the patient's healthlevel does not necessarily show improvement, but instead remains thesame (e.g., cholesterol level does not increase, or a chronic condition,such as diabetes, does not worsen over a significant time period, suchas 6 months).

Health insurance providers, including insurance companies, governmentalhealth insurers, and supplemental health insurance providers (e.g.,Aflac®, AARP™) realize benefits for using HCCs as incentives becausetheir subscribers/members/insureds achieve better health, resulting intheir using less health care services overall and using more inexpensivepreventive care services while requiring fewer expensive acute, chronic,and emergency care services, all of which reduce costs for the insurer.

Another improvement provided by HCCs is that they monetize improvedhealth outcomes and behaviors as an independent economic value, whichopens up a range of uses, including opportunities to earn future healthcare insurance coverage during present periods when an individual ishealthy. For example, young, healthy people, who typically need few ifany health care services during their early years of coverage, may beawarded HCCs while young and achieving high levels of good health, andthey may save the HCCs for later use, “spend” the HCCs right away, orconvert them to cash. For instance, young healthy people, who generallypay much more in health insurance premiums than they incur in healthcare costs during most of their lives, may exchange HCCs with theirinsurer immediately to reduce their health care insurance premiums orsell them for cash.

For an example regarding saved HCCs, later in life, when health problemsstart to affect the formerly young people, they may use saved HCCs toreduce their later, more expensive insurance premiums, or to pay forhealth care services not covered by insurance. Another advantageouseffect of awarding HCCs for healthy behavior in young individuals is anoverall reduction in health care treatments throughout the entire healthcare system as young people are incentivized early on to engage inhealthy behaviors, which makes it less likely they will develop medicalproblems and unhealthy habits later in life.

Another improvement provided by various embodiments of HCC systems is inproviding techniques and mechanisms for transferring improved healthoutcomes between health systems. For example, HCCs earned with onehealth care insurer may be saved or exchanged and used with a differenthealth care insurer because the health improvements and benefits for anindividual, which are represented by the HCCs earned by that individual,remain with the individual, thus reducing costs for a health insurer,regardless of which insurer the individual is contracting with at anyparticular time.

Yet another improvement provided by various embodiments of HCC systemsis in providing techniques and mechanisms for tracking and trading onspecific health care treatments and interventions. For example, the datacollected, stored, and analyzed in connection with treatments, patientbehaviors and activities, and measured health outcomes in order todetermine amounts of HCCs to award to each individual patient may becombined with data from many other individuals and analyzed to determinethe effects of the health care treatments and interventions on thegroup. Some embodiments may provide a novel tradable contract orsecurity (e.g., a derivative security) having a value related theeffects of specific health care treatments or interventions.

Health Care Credit Accounts

As noted above and explained in greater detail in the relatedapplications which are incorporated by reference into this application,in various embodiments health care credits are valuable currency-likeentities that may be earned or awarded for beneficial health-relatedbehaviors and positive and/or improved health-related outcomes. Invarious embodiments, HCCs may be exchanged for value, for example tooffset health insurance premiums, saved for use later, exchanged foreither health-related or non-health-related goods or services, traded orsold through a broker, etc. In most embodiments, accounts are providedto hold, transfer, and exchange HCCs.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of exemplary health care credit accounts,consistent with the principles of the invention. In the embodiment of asystem of accounts 100 shown in FIG. 1, an insurance company orinsurance plan 130 may establish and manage a health care provider HCCaccount 133 and a patient HCC account 136 that are used by a health careprovider 110 (e.g., a physician) and a patient 115, respectively. Insome embodiments, insurance plan or company 130 may be a public orprivate health insurance company, a government-sponsored health careinsurance program, such as Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, military healthcare programs (TriCare), etc., a state health care program, asupplemental insurance company, such as Aflac® or AARP™, (whichsupplements Medicare), or the like. As discussed in the relatedapplications referenced above, insurance plan 130 may place HCCs inaccount 133 for HC provider 110 according to data 111 provided by HCprovider 110 documenting beneficial health regimens and positive healthoutcomes related to patient 115 under the care of HC provider 110.Similarly, insurance plan 130 may place HCCs in account 136 for patient115 according to data 112 provided by HC provider 110 documentingbeneficial health regimens and positive health outcomes related topatient 115 under the care of HC provider 110. In the embodiment shown,data 112 is based on data 116 provided HC provider 110 by patient 115.

Accounts 133 and 136 may also received HCCs from sources other thaninsurance plan 130. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, HCCs may betransferred 151 to accounts 133 and 136 from other sources of HCCs 150,which includes sources such as HCC accounts maintained by otherinsurance companies, HCC brokerage accounts, employers, etc., from whichHCCs may be earned, awarded, bought, inherited, gifted, given as anemployer match, given as a credit-usage or other promotional reward, orotherwise conveyed.

As shown, a non-insurance entity 140, such as a brokerage, investmentfirm, bank, or company set up specifically to provide HCC accounts, mayestablish and manage HCC accounts, such as an individual HCC account 143and an individual HCC account 146. As shown in this example, a personhaving no relationship to any insurance company, (such as Individual120), may nonetheless have a health care credit account, (such asindividual HCC account 146). As represented by dashed lines 117 and 121in the embodiment shown, individual HCC account 143 is controlled by andmaintained for patient 117, and individual HCC account 146 is controlledby and maintained for individual 120.

Accounts 143 and 146 may receive/transfer 141 HCCs from/to insuranceplan 130 according to the directions of patient 115 and individual 120,respectively. Similarly, accounts 143 and 146 receive/transmit 152 HCCsfrom/to other sources of HCCs 150 according to the directions of patient115 and individual 120, respectively. In some embodiments, HCC accounts133, 136, 143, 146, may have properties similar to electronic bankaccounts, such as earning interest, in the form of HCCs, on HCCs held inthe account, automatic transfer of HCCs to offset a periodic bill, suchas a monthly insurance premium, etc.

One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that system 100 depictedin FIG. 1 is an exemplary, generalized illustration and that componentsand features may be added to, removed from, or modified within system100 without departing from the principles of the invention. For oneexample, patient HCC account 136 may be removed, such that the onlyaccount associated with patient 115 is individual HCC account 143, andsuch that HCCs awarded to patient 115 by insurance plan 130 aredeposited directly into individual HCC account 143 by insurance plan130. For another example, in some embodiments, a single health careaccount may be provided for a group of individuals (e.g., a family)instead of only a single individual. In such embodiments, positivehealth behaviors by any member of the group (e.g., eating better andlosing weight or reducing BMI by an obese child) may earn HCCs that maybe used by other members of the group (e.g., used by a parent of theobese child to reduce the cost of medications).

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an exemplary process 200 for managing a healthcare credit account, consistent with the principles of the invention. Insome embodiments, process 200 may be implemented using a computingsystem by an entity functioning as a HC account provider and/or an HCaccount servicer, such as an insurance company 130 or a non-insuranceentity 140, for example a broker, as shown in FIG. 1. In the embodimentshown in FIG. 2, process 200 begins with receiving a credit thatrepresents an improvement in health (stage 205), such as a HCC asdescribed previously. In various embodiments, the credit may transferredor transmitted from a HCC account, (such as accounts 133, 136, 143, or146 of FIG. 1), or the credit may be earned from, or awarded,originated, or created by an entity that seeks to reward and incentivizebeneficial health-related behavior and care, such as an insurancecompany, government agency, or employer. In various implementations ofthis stage, the credit may be received in the form of electronic signalsor electronic digital data.

At stage 210, process 200 stores the credit, which represents animprovement in health, in an account controlled by an entity. In someembodiments, the account may be a health care provider HCC account 133controlled by an HC provider 110, a patient HCC account 136 controlledby a patient 115, or an individual HCC account 146 controlled by anindividual 120, or the like, as shown in FIG. 1. In various embodiments,the entity may be an individual, including an insured individualenrolled in a health insurance plan, or a legal entity, such as a trust,corporation, non-profit organization, etc. In various implementations,the credit may be stored in the form of electronic digital data on acomputer readable medium.

At stage 215, process 200 deducts a credit from the account according toan instruction from the entity that controls the account. For oneexample with reference to FIG. 1, non-insurance entity 140 may deduct acredit(s) from individual HCC account 143 according to an instruction117 from patient 115, so that the credit(s) can be used to reduce ahealth insurance premium owed to insurance plan 130. In variousimplementations, the credit, (which represents an improvement inhealth), may be deducted by reducing an electronic value representingthe amount of HCCs held in the account.

Process 200 next transfers the deducted credit(s) according to theinstruction from the entity controlling the account and ends. In theembodiment shown, process 200 first determines whether the credit is agift (stage 220). If the credit is a gift, (stage 220, Yes), thenprocess 200 transfers the credit to a gift recipient (stage 225), suchas to the account of a family member. For example, a healthy husband maytransfer credits he has accumulated to the account of his wife whorequires an expensive medication whose cost has exceeded the maximumbenefit limit of her health insurance policy, allowing the wife to usethe credits to offset the continuing cost of the medication. Thus, thewife obtains a benefit from the husband's good health (and correspondinglack of expense to the husband's health insurer) as represented in theform of the husband's health care credits. This is another exemplaryimprovement over conventional health care systems wherein one individualcannot benefit in any way from another individual's healthy behaviorsand outcomes.

If the credit is not a gift, (stage 220, No), then process 200 transfersthe credit to entity that provides, in exchange, goods, services (e.g.,a reduction to a health insurance premium), cash, or the like to, or forthe benefit of, the entity that controls the account (stage 230). Invarious implementations, the credit(s), (which represents an improvementin health), may be transferred in the form of electronic signals orelectronic digital data.

One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that process 200depicted in FIG. 2 is an exemplary, generalized illustration and thatstages and features may be added to, removed from, or modified withinprocess 200 without departing from the principles of the invention. Forone example, a stage may be added to process 200 wherein deductedcredits are removed or disposed of, instead of being transferred toanother account, such as in the case where a credit held in an accountprovided by an insurance company (e.g., patient HCC account 136 providedby insurance company 130), is used to reduce a health insurance premiumcharged for a policy underwritten by that same insurance company.

Health Care Credit Exchange

As explained in the related applications, various embodiments of healthcare credit systems award something of value, HCCs, to individuals(patients, insureds, etc.) for beneficial health-related behaviors andoutcomes. This is an improvement over conventional health care systemsbecause an individual's health level and health-related behaviors do notsignificantly financially impact an individual in conventional systems.For example, when an already insured individual gains weight or ceasesexercising or ceases taking physician-described medication in aconventional health care system, these actions do not increase theindividual's premium or reduce some other financial benefit. Conversely,when an already insured individual reduces their BMI, reducescholesterol level, or starts an exercise program, these actions do notdecrease the individual's premium or increase some financial benefit.Individuals have little incentive to be healthy, because their costs ina conventional system are essentially the same whether they act in ahealthy manner or not.

In contrast, health care credit systems consistent with the presentdisclosure may immediately discourage unhealthy actions by reducing oreliminating the amount of HCCs awarded to the individual. If theindividual is using HCCs to reduce their premiums, then this effectivelyraises their premiums. Moreover, various embodiments may further improveover conventional health care systems by providing exchanges or marketswhere HCCs may be bought and sold, which effectively allow sellers toconvert HCCs into cash. In such embodiments, reducing or eliminating HCCawards discourages unhealthy behaviors because the affected individualssuffer the financial loss of not having sufficient HCCs to eitherexchange for health services or cash, or exchange, trade, or sell on anexchange.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary system 300 for exchanginghealth care credits, consistent with the principles of the invention. Inthe embodiment shown, system 300 includes a HCC exchange 340, which is amarket that is designed for the sale and purchase of health care creditsissued by an entity or entities. In various embodiments, issuingentities may be health insurance companies, government agencies, or thelike. In various embodiments, HCC exchange 340 may sell and buy HCCsand/or securities derived from HCCs. In various embodiments, HCCexchange 340 may be implemented as a computerized market to trade healthcare credits, which represent an improvement in health. In someembodiments wherein the HCCs issued by different health insurers areessentially the same regardless of issuer, HCC exchange 340 may beimplemented in a manner similar to the NASDAQ™ market for tradingstocks. In other embodiments wherein the HCCs issued by different healthinsurers have different intrinsic values and/or are valued differentlydepending upon issuer, HCC exchange 340 may be implemented in a mannersimilar to the FOREX™ market for trading currencies.

As shown, sellers of HCCs may have HCC accounts provided and maintainedby insurance plans 310, 315 and/or by non-insurance entities 320, 325.In some instances, sellers may utilize a broker 330 to interact with HCCexchange 340, for example by transferring HCCs from an insurance planaccount 315 or a non-insurance entity account 320 into a brokerageaccount 330, from which the HCCs may be sold on exchange 340. In variousembodiments, brokerage account 330 may also include a cash component formanaging money received in exchange for HCC credits.

Similarly, buyers of HCCs may have HCC accounts provided and maintainedby insurance plans 360, 365 and/or by non-insurance entities 370, 375.In some instances, buyers may utilize a broker 350 to interact with HCCexchange 340, for example by transferring HCCs or cash from an insuranceplan account 365 or a non-insurance entity account 370 (e.g., a bankaccount) into a brokerage account 350, from which the HCCs may be boughtvia exchange 340. In various embodiments, brokerage account 350 mayinclude both a cash component for managing money paid in exchange forHCC credits, and an HCC credit component for receiving and storingpurchased HCCs.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, sellers and buyers may interactdirectly with HCC exchange 340 without using a broker. As shown, sellershaving accounts with an insurance plan 310 or a non-insurance entity 325may offer HCCs for sale on HCC exchange 340, where the HCCs may bebought by buyers having accounts with an insurance plan 360 or anon-insurance entity 375. In such embodiments, HCC accounts 310, 325,360, and 375 may include both a cash component for managing moneypaid/received in exchange for HCC credits, and an HCC credit componentfor transmitting, receiving and/or storing purchased HCCs. In some suchembodiments, HCC exchange 340 may be implemented as a computerizedonline trading platform for HCC, which represent an improvement inhealth, in a manner similar to the eBay™ trading platform.

One of ordinary skill in the art will further recognize that system 300depicted in FIG. 3 is an exemplary, generalized illustration and thatcomponents and features may be added to, removed from, or modifiedwithin system 300 without departing from the principles of theinvention. For example, one of ordinary skill will recognize that selleraccounts 310, 315, 320, 325 may also be used to buy HCCs on HCC exchange340, and similarly buyer accounts 360, 365, 370, 375 may also be used tosell HCCs on HCC exchange 340. For another example, one of ordinaryskill will also recognize that seller accounts 310, 315, 320, 325 andbuyer accounts 360, 365, 370, 375 are not limited to being owned orcontrolled only by individual persons. In some embodiments HCC accountsmay be owned or controlled by corporations or other legal entities,which may, for example, wish to purchase HCCs that can be awarded totheir employees, or by foundations or other organizations that wish topurchase HCCs for donation to other individuals or groups.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary process 400 for exchanging healthcare credits, consistent with the principles of the invention. In someembodiments, process 400 may be implemented using a computing system byan entity providing a market to buy and/or sell HCCs, such as HCCexchange 340, as shown in FIG. 3. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4,process 400 begins with receiving, from an entity, an offer to exchangea credit(s) that represents an improvement in health, (e.g., an HCC).For example, the offer may be an offer to sell a HCC for a specifiedminimum amount of cash, an offer to buy a HCC for a specified maximumamount of cash, an offer to sell a HCC for the current market price, anoffer to buy a HCC for the current market price, or an offer to swap aspecified quantity of one type of HCC for a specified quantity ofanother type of HCC, (e.g., swap 1.0 HCC issued by Blue Cross BlueShield for 2.5 HCCs issued by Medicare). In various embodiments, theentity may be an individual that has a HCC account, such as HCC accounts310, 325 or brokerage account 330. In various implementations, the offerto exchange a credit(s) may be received in the form of electronicsignals or electronic digital data representing a buy order or a sellorder.

At stage 420, process 400 identifies a reciprocal offer(s) to exchangethe credit that represents an improvement in health. For example, ifprocess 400 has received an offer to sell 100 HCC for $1.00 each atstage 410, stage 420 may identify one or more offers to buy 100 HCC forat least $1.00 each. In various embodiments, the identification of areciprocal offer(s) may be implemented by a computing system thatmatches buy and sell orders according to price, quantity, and otherfactors.

In various implementations, there may be no reciprocal offer thatmatches a newly received offer to exchange HCCs and/or the offer toexchange may be an offer to buy or sell HCCs at the current marketprice. In either case, stage 420 may determine that the appropriatereciprocal offer is a pending offer that is nearest to the price desiredby the entity, or the pending offer that is nearest in price to the lastcompleted exchange of the same type of HCC credit (e.g., the lastcompleted trade on a HCC exchange 340).

In some embodiments, HCCs created by different health insurers may havedifferent characteristics, which may cause them to have different valuesfrom each other, intrinsically and/or according to their market priceson a market administered by an HCC exchange 340 implementing process400. For example, consider the case where a first insurer, for instanceTriCare insurance, awards HCCs to its insureds such that 100 TriCareHCCs may be exchanged for a $100 reduction in an insured's TriCareinsurance premium, and/or exchanged for goods and services from vendorsthat TriCare has contracted with at a rate of one dollar per TriCareHCC. Consider further a second HCC insurer, for instance KaiserPermanente™, that awards HCCs to its insureds such that 100 Kaiser HCCsmay be exchanged for a $50 reduction in an insured's Kaiser insurancepremium and/or exchanged for goods and services from vendors that Kaiserhas contracted with at a rate of 75 cents per Kaiser HCC. In some suchembodiments, there may also be differences in how many HCCs each insurerawards for the same or similar healthy outcomes or actions by itsinsureds. Competing insurers may use these and other characteristics oftheir HCC programs to attract customers.

In such a case, the best reciprocal offer on the market identified bystage 420 for exchanging Kaiser HCCs for TriCare HCCs may be an offer toexchange 1.5 Kaiser HCCs for 1 TriCare HCC, or to exchange 2.0 KaiserHCCs for 1 TriCare HCC, both of which reflect the relative intrinsicvalues of the HCCs. Or, the exchange rate on the market may vary greatlyfrom the relative intrinsic values of the HCCs due to the relativesupply and demand of the two types of HCCs in this example. Similarly,individuals offering to sell the two types of HCCs for cash may besubject to the price set by the market based on supply and demand foreach of the two types of HCCs, analogous to foreign currency exchanges.

In other embodiments, HCCs created by different health insurers may havesubstantially uniform characteristics, regardless of the insurer thatissued them. For example, all insurers may allow its insureds toexchange their HCCs on a one-to-one dollar basis for a reduction in ahealth insurance premium. In some such embodiments, HCCs may be fungiblewhen traded on a market administered by an HCC exchange 340 implementingprocess 400. In such embodiments, the primary type of market transactionmay be exchanging HCCs for cash, where the reciprocal offers (stage 420)are at price determined by the market based on supply and demand forHCCs overall, analogous to stock exchanges wherein an HCC is a securitylike a share of stock.

As shown in the embodiment of FIG. 4, process 400 next exchanges thecredit according to the reciprocal offer (stage 430). Continuing theprevious example with respect to this stage, process 400 may deduct 100HCC from the account (e.g., insurance-plan-managed account 310,non-insurance-entity-managed account 325, or brokerage account 330) ofthe entity that submitted the sell offer for 100 HCC at $1.00 each, anddeduct $100 for the account(s) (e.g., insurance-plan-managed account360, non-insurance-entity-managed account 375, or brokerage account 350)of the entity(ies) that submitted the reciprocal buy offer(s) of $100for 100 HCC.

Process 400 then provides the proceeds of the exchange to the entitythat transmitted the original offer (stage 440) and then ends. Againcontinuing the previous example, process 400 may transmit the $100deducted from the account(s) of the entity(ies) that submitted thereciprocal buy offer(s) of $100 to the entity that transmitted theoriginal sell offer referenced in stage 410.

One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that process 400depicted in FIG. 4 is an exemplary, generalized illustration and thatstages and features may be added to, removed from, or modified withinprocess 400 without departing from the principles of the invention. Forexample, a stage may be added to process 400 wherein the proceeds of theexchange are provided to the entity associated with the reciprocal offer(e.g., the buyer that fills a sell order is provided with the HCCs thatwere purchased).

Health Care Tracking Data and Derivatives

Health care credit systems consistent with the present disclosureprovide improved health data gathering and management, which fits wellwith evidence-based health care practices, and has other novel uses. Invarious embodiments, to determine whether and how many HCCs to award toindividuals, insurers or other HCC administrators or awarders analyzehealth care data provided by the treating health care provider (e.g.,physician). In some embodiments, this same data may be used for variousother purposes in addition to administering HCC awards.

For example, the health care data may be used to track over time andevaluate health care treatment regimens and outcomes, including withrespect to specific demographic patient groups. Such tracking data maybe used to identify marginally effective and ineffective treatmentregimens and discourage their use among health care providers, whichwould provide another improvement over current health care systemwherein health care providers are often rewarded based on the amount oftreatments they provide (i.e., they are paid per treatment), regardlessof effectiveness. In some embodiments, such tracked information may beused as the basis for a derivative security having a value that isdirectly related to a specific health care outcome and that provides anovel way to monetize health care treatments.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system 500 formanaging data and providing health care derivative securities related tohealth care information, consistent with the principles of theinvention. In various embodiments, a health care derivative may be asecurity whose price or value is dependent upon or derived from one ormore underlying “assets,” where the assets are in the form of accurate,current information relating to health care problems, treatments,outcomes, effectiveness, usages, and the like. In some embodiments, thederivative itself may simply be a contract between two or more partiesthat specifies its value at a future date dependent upon condition(s) ofthe underlying information. The value of a derivative at any point intime before its expiration is determined by fluctuations in theunderlying data with respect to desired conditions—in this case by thechanges and content of the underlying health care data—and the marketdemand. In various embodiments, a health care derivative may be tradableon an exchange or over the counter.

As shown in the embodiment of FIG. 5, health care providers 110 mayimplement a treatment regimen or health care activity regimen 510 withpatients 115, as described in more detail in the related applications.

As the treatment regimen 510 is ongoing, health care provider 110gathers health care data 515 documenting the patient 115, the healthcharacteristics and/or problem(s), the treatment(s), the outcome(s),etc. In various embodiments, data documenting the patient may includeinformation regarding characteristics such as race, sex, age, height,weight, address, occupation, family history, habits, social history, andthe like. In various embodiments, data documenting the patient's healthcharacteristics or problems may include information describing theproblem(s) currently being treated (heart disease, cancer, broken bone,migraine headaches, high cholesterol, high BMI, etc.) including baselineand continuing measurements (e.g., artery blockage measurements, tumorsize and growth, fracture healing, headache frequency and intensity,blood pressure, cholesterol level, etc.), and the like. In variousembodiments, data documenting the patient's treatment regimen mayinclude information describing medications and usages, surgeries orother procedures, appliances used (e.g., stents, etc.), therapyroutines, diet, exercise, and the like. In various embodiments, datadocumenting the patient's outcome(s) may include information describingthe result of each treatment, for example, cured, artery blood flowincreased 70%, fracture 50% healed, headache frequency reduced 10%,cholesterol lowered by 30%, and the like.

As shown in the embodiment of FIG. 5, health care provider 110 provideshealth care data 515 to a data repository 520. In various embodiments,data repository 515 may be implemented by a database server or othercomputing system for maintaining and accessing data.

As shown, account providers 560, such as insurance plan 130 ornon-insurance entity 140, also provide data to data repository 520, suchas health care credit flow data 565. In some embodiments, health carecredit flow data 565 includes information describing transfers of HCCsfrom one account to another and describing the accounts involved, aswell as information regarding HCCs exchanged for goods, services, etc.,and the entities involved. In such embodiments, health care credit flowdata 565 may indicate, for example, the amount of HCCs that are beingsold for cash, the amount of HCCs that are being exchanged for goods andservices of contracted vendors, the amount of HCCs that are beingexchange for insurance premium reductions, and the like.

Also as shown, health care credit awarders 530 are connected to, and mayaccess, the data in data repository 520. In various embodiments, healthcare credit awarders 530 include insurance plans/companies 130, whichmay award HCCs to individuals, such as patients 115, as an incentive toact in a health beneficial manner and for achieving positive healthoutcomes, as explained in detail in the related applications. Healthcare credit awarders 530 may read and analyze HC data 515 stored in datarepository 520 to determine whether patients 114 have engaged inrewardable activities and/or achieved positive health outcomes. Invarious embodiments, health care credit awarders 530 may also read andanalyze HC data 515 stored in data repository 520 to determine whetherHC providers 110 (e.g., physicians) have engaged in rewardableactivities (e.g., provided effective treatment regimens to patients 115)and/or achieved positive health outcomes for patients.

In some embodiments where health care credit awarders 530 are insurancecompanies, they may read and analyze HC data 515 stored in datarepository 520 to determine which treatments and regimens producebeneficial results for patients, and which do not, or are less effectivethan others. This information, in turn, may inform policy coveragedecisions by an insurer. For example, an insurer may remove coverage(i.e., not reimburse) for a drug that is not working, according to theinformation in HC data 515, or an insurer may refuse to coverimplantation of a certain, more-expensive brand of pacemaker, if thatpacemaker does not achieve results superior to a less expensive brand,according to the information in HC data 515.

In the embodiment shown, a HC derivate administrator 540 is alsoconnected to, and may access, the data in data repository 520. Invarious embodiments, HC derivate administrator 540 may create, issue,administer, sell, and/or buy HC derivatives whose performance and valueare based on underlying HC data 515. As noted above, HC derivatives maybe embodied as securities or contracts that track health care outcomes.In an investment sense, HC derivatives provide a far more granular andprecise way to invest in and trade on differentiated health caredevices, medications, treatments, techniques, etc., in comparison tohealth care stocks. HC derivatives also provide the opportunity forbrokerages and investment houses to create futures and options tradesbased on underlying health care devices, medications, treatments,techniques, etc.; i.e., futures and options based on the predicted valueof a HC derivative.

In the embodiment shown, HC derivative administrator 540 has created andis managing four exemplary derivatives 551-554. HC derivatives 551-554may be designed and implemented to achieve almost any financialobjective based on underlying health care information. In general, HCderivatives may be designed and implemented to provide a profit orpayout if specific health-related characteristics and events, asindicated by the underlying HC data 515, turn out to be the way theissuer expects (e.g., move in a given direction, stay in or out of aspecified range, reach a certain level or goal, etc.).

For example, HC derivative 551 may be designed to provide leveragerelated to the market penetration of a specific stent, such that a smallmarket penetration as tracked and indicated by the underlying HC data515 (e.g., 2% of all stents used will be ACME Corp. model 123A stents 18months from now), will cause a large difference in the value of HCderivative 551 (e.g., derivative 551 will pay 30 times its issue pricein 18 months if the market penetration goal is reached; and otherwise itwill be worthless).

For another example, HC derivative 552 may track the efficacy of a newcholesterol lowering drug in African American males, as documented andindicated by the underlying HC data 515, and provide a payout such that,after 12 months of usage, if the new drug lowers overall cholesterol anaverage of 0-10% in the African American male demographic group, then HCderivative 552 pays nothing; if the new drug lowers overall cholesterolan average of 10.1-25%, then derivative 552 pays 1.5 times its purchaseprice; if the new drug lowers overall cholesterol an average of25.1-50%, then derivative 552 pays 2.5 times its purchase price; and ifthe new drug lowers overall cholesterol an average of 50.1% or more,then HC derivative 552 pays 4 times its purchase price.

For another example, HC derivative 553 may be designed to track theefficacy of two specific brands of pacemakers relative to each other, asindicated by the underlying HC data 515, such that, after 24 months ofusage, if Brand A pacemakers have required fewer repairs, adjustments,and replacements than Brand B pacemakers, then the derivative pays threetimes its purchase price, and otherwise, it pays nothing.

For yet another example, HC derivative 554 may be designed to track theefficacy of a specific oncology drug in a specific age demographicrelative to another age demographic, as indicated by the underlying HCdata 515, such that, after 24 months of treatment with the oncologydrug, if the remission rate for patients 25 years old and younger is0-15% higher than the remission rate for patients older than 25 years,then the derivative pays nothing; and if the remission rate for patients25 years old and younger is 15.1% or more higher than the remission ratefor patients older than 25 years, then the derivative three pays timesits purchase price.

One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that system 500 depictedin FIG. 5 is an exemplary, generalized illustration and that componentsand features may be added to, removed from, or modified within system500 without departing from the principles of the invention. For example,one of ordinary skill will recognize that the examples of HC derivatives551-554 are illustrative only, and many other health care derivativesare possible within the scope of the invention, including health carederivatives whose payouts are expressed in terms other than as amultiple of the purchase price. For another example, system 500 may bemodified so that third parties (not shown), including additional HCderivative creators and insurance companies, may be connected to datarepository 520 and allowed to access, mine, and analyze HC data 515 forvarious purposes, including creating additional HC derivatives andshaping health insurance coverages.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an exemplary process 600 for managing aderivative security related to health care and/or health care credits,consistent with the principles of the invention. In some embodiments,process 600 may be implemented using a computing system by an entitythat is creating and/or managing derivates that are based on health caretreatment and outcome data, such as HC derivative administrator 540, asshown in FIG. 5. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, process 600 beginswith creating a derivative security having a value that is dependentupon achieving or fulfilling a specified result or condition asindicated by health care data (stage 610). For example, as noted abovewith respect to FIG. 5, HC derivatives (such as HC derivatives 551-554)may be created such that they increase or decrease in value, or pay outa specified amount, if specific health-related characteristics andevents, as indicated by the underlying HC data 515, turn out to be theway the derivative creator expects (e.g., move in a given direction,stay in or out of a specified range, reach a certain level, etc.). Inother words, the value of a HC derivative may be tied to a condition(s)that is discernable from health care data and HCC flow data that isgenerated and collected incidental to providing health care services toindividuals and/or tied to whether/how that condition(s) is fulfilled orachieved. In various embodiments, creating the derivative may includespecifying a definite time(s) for achieving the specified result(s) andspecifying a definite payout(s) if the specified result(s) are achievedat the specified time(s).

At stage 620, process 600 issues the derivative security to aninvestor(s). In some embodiments, this stage may be implements byselling or trading the HC derivative security either on a regulatedexchange, such as the Chicago Board of Trade, on a custom HC exchange,such as HC 340 of FIG. 3, or off the exchanges, directly between thedifferent counterparties.

Next, process 600 collects data regarding the specified health careresult that underlies the derivative (stage 630). In variousembodiments, the data collection of stage 630 may be ongoing over thelife of the derivative, as new health care data regarding relevanttreatments, outcomes, etc. is generated by patients and health careproviders over time. In some embodiments, stage 640 may be implementedby retrieving data from data repository 520, as shown in FIG. 5.

At stage 640, process 600 adjusts the value of the derivative securityaccording to the data collected in stage 640 and then ends. Forderivatives that feature a final payout at a specified ending date, thisstage may involve analyzing the health care data collected in stage 630as of the final payout date and determining whether, or which, payoutconditions were met. For example, consider again the example of HCderivative 551 discussed above with respect to FIG. 5, wherein thederivative was created to pay 30 times its issue price if 2% of allstents used are ACME Corp. model 123A stents during a period ending 18months after creation of HC derivative 551. In this example, stage 640involves accessing and analyzing HC data 515 to determine the totalnumber of stents employed during the relevant 18 month period and thenumber of ACME Corp. model 123A stents among that total. Then, stage 640calculates whether the number of model 123A stents is equal to orgreater than 2% of the total, and if so, adjusts the values of HCderivative 551 to be 30 times its issue price. Or, if the calculationshows the number of model 123A stents is less than 2% of the total, thenstage 640 adjusts the value of HC derivative 551 to be zero.

In various embodiments, stage 640 may also include calculating andadjusting the current value of a derivative at a time before the finalpayout date, using either a formula based on the progress to date towardthe specified payout goal(s), or by letting the market set the valueaccording to the bids and offers from buyers wishing to purchase thederivative. Other ways of adjusting the value are also possible, withinthe scope of the invention.

One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that process 600depicted in FIG. 6 is an exemplary, generalized illustration and thatstages and features may be added to, removed from, or modified withinprocess 600 without departing from the principles of the invention. Forexample, a stage may be added to process 600 wherein the adjusted valueof the derivative security is paid to holders of the derivative, as ofthe final payout date.

Health Care Credit Flows Derivatives

As explained in the related applications, which are incorporated byreference, in various embodiments, HCCs are transferable between a widerange of entities. Although HCCs may be created and awarded by differentcreating entities (e.g., by different insurance companies), in variousembodiments, each creating entity honor HCCs created by another creatingentity and/or the HCCs of different creating entities may be exchangedfor each other, or bought and sold with cash, on exchanges or othermarketplaces.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an exemplary system 700 fortransferring and exchanging health care credits, consistent with theprinciples of the invention. In the embodiment shown, HCC account A 705contains HCC credits. HCC account A 705 may be, for example, a healthcare provider HCC account 133, a patient HCC account 136, or anindividual HCC account 143 or 146.

The entity controlling HCC account A 705, such as an individual who hasbeen awarded HCCs from his health insurer for achieving positive healthoutcomes, may freely transfer the HCCs to other entities in the HCCsystem 700. For example, an individual may transfer 781 HCCs from HCCaccount A 705 to a health insurance company A 710 in exchange for areduction in the premium paid by the individual for health insurance.

Similarly, the individual may transfer 784 HCCs from HCC account A 705to a merchant A 730 in exchange for goods and/or services provided bymerchant A 730. In some embodiments, merchant A 730 may have contractedwith health insurance company A 710 (or other entity creating or backingHCCs) to accept HCCs from customers in lieu of cash, with thearrangement that health insurance company A 710 will compensate merchantA 730 with cash for the accepted HCCs. In other embodiments, merchant A730 may have no contract with health insurance company A 710, and maysimply sell received HCCs for cash in a market such as HCC exchange 340as described above with respect to FIG. 3. Other arrangements may alsobe used.

The controlling individual may also transfer 782 HCCs from HCC account A705 to a brokerage account A 720, and then sell them for cash frombrokerage account A 720 on a market such as HCC exchange 340 asdescribed above with respect to FIG. 3.

As also shown in the embodiment of FIG. 7, the controlling individualmay also directly transfer 783 HCCs from HCC account A 705 to an HCCaccount B 740, which may be, for example, a health care provider HCCaccount 133, a patient HCC account 136, or an individual HCC account 143or 146. For instance, the controlling individual may transfer 783 HCCsas a gift to an account belonging to a family member.

As represented by the pathways 781, 782, 783, and 784 emanating from HCCaccount B 740, the entity controlling HCC account B 740 may similarlyexchange, sell, or transfer the credits in the account for a variety ofpurposes. Thus, in various embodiments, HCCs are freely transferableamong the accounts and entities of HCC system 700.

One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that system 700 depictedin FIG. 7 is an exemplary, generalized illustration and that componentsand features may be added to, removed from, or modified within system700 without departing from the principles of the invention. For example,one of ordinary skill will recognize that any number of merchants,insurance companies, brokerage accounts, individual accounts, exchanges,etc. may be added to system 700 without departing from the principles ofthe invention.

As exhibited by system 700, embodiments that report and store HCCaccount data may track the flow of HCCs throughout system 700, as eachaccount records HCC transfers into and out of the account. And, theremay be useful meanings attributed to each HCC transfer or flow. Forexample, HCC flows into certain accounts may indicate healthy peopleearning credits, HCC flows out of certain accounts may indicate peoplewho require little health care are selling credits or exchanging creditsfor good and services, HCC flows into and out of other specific accountsmay indicate unhealthy people buying credits and using them forhealthcare services; etc.

Moreover, information regarding flow trends and quantities of HCCs beingtransferred to and/or from certain entities, such as to specific vendors(e.g., American Airlines or Wal-Mart), may be significant to investorswho wish to make investments based on anticipated effects, or thepredictive qualities, of the HCC flows.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an exemplary process 800 for managing aderivative security related to health care credits consistent with theprinciples of the invention, and in particular a derivative related tothe flow of credits from and to various entities. In variousembodiments, process 600 may be implemented using a computing system byan entity that is creating and/or managing derivates that are based onhealth care treatment and outcome data, such as HC derivativeadministrator 540, as shown in FIG. 5.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, process 800 begins with creating aderivative security having a value that is dependent upon a specifiedamount of health care credits flowing to a specified entity (stage 810).For example, HC derivatives (similar to HC derivatives 551-554 of FIG.5) may be created that increase in value, or pay out a specified amount,if a specified amount of HCCs flow into/out of the account(s) of aspecified entity(ies), as indicated by the underlying HC data 515. Invarious embodiments, creating the derivative may include specifying adefinite time(s) for achieving the specified amount(s) flowing to thespecified entity(ies) or account(s), and specifying a definite payout(s)if the specified amount(s) are achieved at the specified time(s).

At stage 820, process 800 issues the derivative security to aninvestor(s). In some embodiments, this stage may be implements byselling or trading the HC derivative security either on a regulatedexchange, such as the Chicago Board of Trade, on a custom HC exchange,such as HC 340 of FIG. 3, or off the exchanges, directly between thedifferent counterparties.

Next, process 800 collects data regarding the amount of HCCs that havebeen received (or transmitted) by the specified entity(ies), which arethe HCC flow(s) that underlies the derivative (stage 830). In variousembodiments, the data collection of stage 830 may be ongoing over thelife of the derivative, as new HCC flow data 565 is generated by accountproviders 560 over time. As shown in FIG. 5, process 800 may collect therelevant data by accessing data repository 520, which stores the HCCflow data 565 placed there by account providers 560.

At stage 840, process 800 adjusts the value of the derivative securityaccording to the data collected in stage 840 and then ends. For HCC flowderivatives that feature a final payout at a specified ending date, thisstage may involve analyzing the HCC flow data 565 collected in stage 830as of the final payout date and determining whether or which payoutconditions were met, in a manner similar to that described with respectto stage 640 of FIG. 6. For example, the value of a HCC flow derivativemay be tied to a condition(s) that is discernable from health care dataand HCC flow data that is generated and collected incidental toproviding health care services and HCC transaction services toindividuals and/or tied to whether/how that condition(s) is fulfilled orachieved. In various embodiments, stage 840 may also include calculatingand adjusting the current value of a HCC flow derivative before thefinal payout date, using either a formula based on the progress to datetoward the specified payout goal(s), or by letting the market set thevalue according to the bids and offers from buyers wishing to purchasethe derivative.

One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that process 800depicted in FIG. 8 is an exemplary, generalized illustration and thatstages and features may be added to, removed from, or modified withinprocess 800 without departing from the principles of the invention. Forexample, a stage may be added to process 800 wherein the adjusted valueof the derivative security is paid to holders of the derivative, as ofthe final payout date.

HCC Computing Systems

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computing system 900suitable for implementing embodiments consistent with the principles ofthe invention. Other components and/or arrangements may also be used. Invarious embodiments, computing system 900, or several communicativelyconnected instances of computing system 900, may be used to implementprocesses 200, 400, 600, and 800, as well as HCC accounts, HCC exchange340, and/or HC derivative administrator 540, among other things.

Computing system 900 includes a number of components, such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 905, a memory 910, an input/output (I/O) device(s)925, and a nonvolatile storage device 920. System 900 can be implementedin various ways. For example, an implementation as an integratedplatform (such as a workstation, server, personal computer, laptop,smartphone, etc.) may comprise CPU 905, memory 910, nonvolatile storage920, and I/O devices 925. In such a configuration, components 905, 910,920, and 925 may connect and communicate through a local data bus andmay access a database 930 (implemented, for example, as a separatedatabase system) via an external I/O connection. I/O component(s) 925may connect to external devices through a direct communication link(e.g., a hardwired or local wifi connection), through a network, such asa local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), and/or throughother suitable connections. System 900 may be standalone or it may be asubsystem of a larger system.

CPU 905 may be one or more known processing devices, such as amicroprocessor from the Core™ 2 family manufactured by the Intel™Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif. Memory 910 may be one or more faststorage devices configured to store instructions and information used byCPU 905 to perform certain functions, methods, and processes related toembodiments of the present invention. Storage 920 may be a volatile ornon-volatile, magnetic, semiconductor, tape, optical, or other type ofstorage device or computer-readable medium, including devices such asCDs and DVDs, meant for long-term storage.

In the illustrated embodiment, memory 910 contains one or more programsor subprograms 915 loaded from storage 920 or from a remote system (notshown) that, when executed by CPU 905, perform various operations,procedures, processes, or methods consistent with the present invention.Alternatively, CPU 905 may execute one or more programs located remotelyfrom system 900. For example, system 900 may access one or more remoteprograms via network 935 that, when executed, perform functions andprocesses related to embodiments of the present invention.

In one embodiment, memory 910 may include a program(s) 915 thatimplements processes 200 and/or 400 and/or a program 915 that implementsprocesses 600 and/or 800. In some embodiments, memory 910 may alsoinclude other programs or applications that implement other methods andprocesses that provide ancillary functionality to the invention. Forexample, memory 910 may include programs that gather, organize, store,and/or provide access to health care related data, such as HC data 515and/or HCC flow data 565.

Memory 910 may be also be configured with other programs (not shown)unrelated to the invention and/or an operating system (not shown) thatperforms several functions well known in the art when executed by CPU905. By way of example, the operating system may be Microsoft Windows™,Unix™, Linux™, an Apple Computers™ operating system, Personal DigitalAssistant operating system such as Microsoft CE™, or other operatingsystem. The choice of operating system, and even to the use of anoperating system, is not critical to the invention.

I/O device(s) 925 may comprise one or more input/output devices thatallow data to be received and/or transmitted by system 900. For example,I/O device 925 may include one or more input devices, such as akeyboard, touch screen, mouse, and the like, that enable data to beinput from an administrative user, such as a system operator. Further,I/O device 525 may include one or more output devices, such as a displayscreen, CRT monitor, LCD monitor, plasma display, printer, speakerdevices, and the like, that enable data to be output or presented to auser. I/O device 925 may also include one or more digital and/or analogcommunication input/output devices that allow computing system 900 tocommunicate, for example, digitally, with other machines and devices.Other configurations and/or numbers of input and/or output devices maybe incorporated in I/O device 925.

In the embodiment shown, system 900 is connected to a network 935 (suchas the Internet, a private network, a virtual private network, or othernetwork), which may in turn be connected to various systems andcomputing machines (not shown), such as personal computers, laptopcomputers, servers, and/or smartphones of users 310. In general, system900 may input data from external machines and devices and output data toexternal machines and devices via network 935.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 9, database 930 is astandalone database external to system 900. In other embodiments,database 930 may be hosted by system 900. In various embodiments,database 930 may manage and store data used to implement systems andmethods consistent with the invention. For example, database 930 maymanage and store data structures that contain data such as HC data 515and/or HCC flow data 565.

Database 930 may comprise one or more databases that store informationand are accessed and/or managed through system 900. By way of example,database 930 may be an Oracle™ database, a Sybase™ database, or otherrelational database. Systems and methods consistent with the invention,however, are not limited to separate data structures or databases, oreven to the use of a database or data structure.

The preceding description of a computing system is exemplary and notmeant to be limiting. In one or more exemplary implementations, thefunctions and processes described may be implemented in hardware,software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented insoftware, the functions may be stored as instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computerstorage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Astorage media may be any available non-transitory media that can beaccessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, suchcomputer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or otheroptical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storagedevices, or any other medium that can be used to hold desired programcode in the form of instructions or data structures and that can beaccessed by a computer. Also, any remote device may be properly termed acomputer-readable medium. Combinations of the elements described hereincan also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

The processing of a method, process, or algorithm described inconnection with the implementations disclosed herein may be embodieddirectly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, orin a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory,flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a harddisk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage mediumknown in the art. In some embodiments, the storage medium may beintegral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium mayreside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a computing device orcomputing system.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled inthe art from consideration of the specification and practice of theinvention disclosed herein. For example, in some embodiments, thecomputing systems and/or software that implements the described systemsand methods may deployed in a cloud. For another example, variousembodiments may be combined with social networking features, such asawarding or earning HCCs for causing social network contacts (e.g.,friends) to engage in health-beneficial behavior (e.g., visiting ahealth food website or exercise equipment website and making apurchase). Accordingly, it is intended that the specification andexamples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spiritof the invention being indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, implemented using a computing system,of managing a health care credit, the method comprising: receiving thehealth care credit, wherein the health care credit represents goodhealth, or improvement in health, or maintenance of health; storing,using the computing system, the health care credit in an accountcontrolled by an entity; receiving an instruction from the entity; anddeducting, using the computing system, the health care credit from theaccount according to the instruction.